Lost in the Flames
by 2000Aerobars
Summary: "If someone has hurt Tails, I swear they'll pay." Tails has been taken and Sonic's only hope of finding him is to trust Aeronniell. A mysterious outcast who supposedly betrayed her friends four and a half years ago. Will she be true? Or will be betray her new friends like before? Please review XD. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1 - Wrong place, wrong time

**Hi everyone, All I want to say Is an enormous 'thank you' to NeonLight14 because without him this story would be totally different and totally terrible. You're the best Neon!**

**This entire story is to be edited so any slip ups will be gone. (I hope). The biggest edits are to the back of the story.**

**Anyway, here it is XD**

**Chapter 1 - Wrong place, wrong time**

"Finally, I'm done," Tails the Fox said to himself, wiping the sweat from his brow and looking at his plane with pride. Tails was in his workshop. Bits of metal and strange machines were everywhere but they were in neat piles. It was quite cold outside, so Tails had lit a fire in the forge to warm himself up a bit. He could smell the faint smoke and seemed satisfied with the aroma.

Suddenly Tails heard a loud thud, which caused him to nearly jump out of his fur.  
"Huh, what was _that_?" Tails said to himself as he turned around to see where the noise had come from. He spotted a very fierce-looking hedgehog and a hawk quickly slamming the big wooden doors shut.

Instinctively, Tails ducked behind the plane and kept out of sight. He forced his breathing to become as slow and quiet as possible They hadn't seen him yet. Maybe they were just hiding from someone or were lost. Tails doubted this and decided to stay quiet.

"So, In thrwee days the machine will be compweete, and the men will be unstoppable. Rwight Conwrad?" The taller hedgehog said in a very strange accent. He was dark green and wore sandy-coloured army clothes with big black boots and had sunglasses resting on the top of his head. He had quite a large scar near his eye that looked painful. Tails seemed to recognize the way he spoke, it was just like his friend Big the Cat.

"Yes, Stephenson, that's the plan," The shorter hedgehog, known as Conrad, sighed. Conrad spoke in such a way Tails knew that they had been through this conversation many times before.

Conrad was a sandy coloured hawk, he was probably around fifteen and looked like an easy going guy, except for the fact that as he spoke a mini tornado was weaving around his fingers.

Stephenson and Conrad sat down on two empty oil barrels and continued their conversation.

"So 'dat big rwock we found will helwp power the machine?" Stephenson added.  
"Yes it will, I hope you're keeping it safe," Conrad said firmly. Stephenson nodded and revealed a beautiful white gemstone that Tails didn't recognize.  
_That's not a Chaos emerald, but it feels even more powerful, _Tails thought to himself.

Tails decided he needed to leave but as Conrad spoke, he froze and peered over the plane wing.

"Good... Stephenson, look around for a yellow Chaos Emerald. Karn said that there was one in here. Once we have the Chaos Emeralds, we go after the Master Emerald. Though that Echidna will prove difficult, it will be fun to pulverize him with the Hydra," he laughed.

Tails inhaled sharply and shuddered. He ducked back down when he realised he had just made a noise. _Ok, Tails. How are you going to get out of this one? _he thought to himself.  
_Well... First, you need to hide that Emerald... But where?_

Tails thought for a moment, before picking the yellow Chaos Emerald up from beside him. Tails waited until the perfect moment and threw it into the back of the forge, where it would be safe from the fire. However as he threw the Emerald, he knocked the tool box, that had been resting on the plane wing, onto the floor. Tails watched in as it fell to the floor with and made a loud clatter.

Both hedgehogs turned their heads in unison towards the noise and stood. Tails quickly grabbed a bit of cold charcoal from the floor beside him and wrote: _Knuckles is in trouble, guard ALL the Emeralds. _As soon as he finished he put some paper over the message and listened for the intruders.

"Stephenson, go check the plane, I'll guard the door," Conrad smirked coldly.

Tails kept quiet. _Keep calm, just time it right and run to the window... No problem, _he thought to himself. The footsteps began to get louder and louder. He suddenly ran to the window but just as he thought he was going to make it, a hand grabbed at his ankle. Tails tripped over and fell to the floor. Tails kicked until he was free and quickly stood up to run again but Stephenson grabbed him by the arm, his grip was like steel.

"Lemme go!" Tails yelled, kicking thin air and desperately trying to escape. This wasn't the first time this sort of thing had happened to Tails, and as petrified as he was, Tails knew he had to show he wasn't afraid. He had to show that he wasn't going to go without a fight but most importantly, he had to try to stall. Sonic would be back soon, Tails just had to fight and struggle until then.

"Not d'is time," Stephenson growled, grabbing his other arm. Stephenson managed to twist Tails's arms behind his back to try to stop him fighting.

But Tails kept going, knocking over the machinery and yelling in an attempt to get help. Tails stomped on the hedgehog's foot and managed to trip Stephenson over. As Stephenson fell, he accidentally dropped Tails on to a large shard of glass, which was from one of his machines. It cut his side.

Tails yelped out in pain and clutched his side as he shuffled along the floor  
"You fool!" Conrad yelled, running over with a large rag in his hand.

"Sonic, help!" Tails screamed, desperately triying to get to the window. Stephenson quickly recovered from his fall and grabbed Tails yet again. They continued the struggle but Tails knew that there wasn't much hope now.  
Conrad grabbed Tails and shoved the rag onto his face.

"Take it easy, kid. We're not gonna hurt you," Conrad muttered through Tails's muffled yells.  
Tails tried to fight but Stephenson helped hold on to him. After a few, long seconds Tails fell unconscious and went limp in the strangers' arms...

* * *

**(Later that day)**

"Yo, Tails, you in here?" Sonic called, pushing open the door open. The sight that met his eyes was unbelievable. All of the machines had been destroyed and most of the paper designs were on fire in the forge. But the worst sight was the small puddle of blood on the floor. Tails often left the workshop in a mess, but not like this.

"Sonic, what's going o-" Shadow called as he walked in, his voice flattered as soon as he saw the workshop.  
"If someone has hurt Tails... I swear they'll pay," Sonic growled through gritted teeth.  
"Let's have a look around first, before we jump to conclusions," Shadow said calmly but seriously. He kept his mind clear and calm. Working at G.U.N had given him these skills but G.U.N couldn't teach you everything

"So much for a quiet day," Shadow thought out loud about five minutes later but Sonic didn't hear. He was too busy wondering who had done this and what had actually happened... But most importantly, Sonic wondered where Tails was.

Shadow noticed that Sonic's actions were quick and full of force, Sonic was angry and his clenched fists were shaking in rage.  
"If he has gone missing, Sonic, we'll find him," Shadow said, in an attempt to calm him down.

The original plan was for Tails to finish his new adaptation for the Tornado and wait for Sonic to come back from getting Shadow. Now Tails was gone without a trace and all of his work had gone up in flames. The blood was really starting to worry Sonic, but what worried him more was the fact Tails wasn't here. So where was he?

Tails was as good as a brother to Sonic and if he was - no, he couldn't think like that. Sonic tried to look on the bright side. There wasn't enough blood for Tails to have been seriously hurt and there was no blood trail either, so his wound was at least covered or, was hopefully being treated.

Shadow managed to save some of Tails's designs from the fire. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the corner of a design hidden under an empty oil drum that tended to be used as a seat. Shadow moved the drum and picked up the design of the adaptation for the Tornado that Tails had just finished. He smirked at how much effort Tails put into looking after the Tornado. It was then, he spotted the message that had been written on the concrete floor.

"Sonic, come look at this," Shadow said.  
"Knuckles is in trouble, guard all the Emeralds," Sonic read. "All the Emeralds, what could that mean? The Chaos Emeralds and The Master Emerald?"  
"Looks that way," replied Shadow.  
"So... What do we do now?" Sonic asked, itching to run off and find his friend.  
"I suggest that we split up. You go and warn Knuckles and I'll start looking for Tails, that way we can save time," Shadow said.

Sonic nodded and climbed into the Tornado, Tails's little red plane, whilst Shadow opened the doors. Sonic quickly flew out of the workshop and began to make his way towards Angel Island.

"Good luck, Sonic... You'll probably need it," Shadow said, watching the plane disappear into the sky. Shadow then closed the doors and dashed off to find Tails.

What both hedgehogs had failed to see was the glowing Chaos Emerald in the forge and a hooded figure silently standing near the door who had heard all of their conversation.

_Stephenson and Conrad too?! This is getting out of hand. I need to find that blue hedgehog. Whatever he knows about these 'emeralds' might explain why Karn wants them so badly. It may be the only way Karn can be stopped... But there's only one thing, how am I going to get to that Island?_

**I told you I'd tie up all the loose ends. I hope you'll read the rest of the story because the storyline has changed a little and is a lot better.**

****Quick note: Lost in Greed is up and running... Or publishing rather... You know what I mean XD****

**Please Review and have a great dayXD**


	2. Chapter 2 - The hooded figure

**Chapter 2 - The hooded figure...**

"WHAT! TAILS IS GONE...b..but how?" Knuckles yelled, gradually getting weaker in the voice.  
"I don't know, but Tails wrote a message telling me to warn you about something and to protect the Emeralds," Sonic explained. Knuckles nodded "I'd help you guys look, but if Tails thinks that the Master Emerald is in danger, then I should stay here to protect it.. Right?"  
Sonic nodded. "I just came to warn you, so.. Be careful knucklehead," Sonic said duly.

Deep down Sonic was furious that Knuckles wouldn't help. Even though he had a duty, surely a missing and probably wounded friend was more important than an Emerald. But Sonic decided not to say anything as it would just cause arguments, besides Knuckles did have a good point.

Despite what was happening, Sonic couldn't help but think of how peaceful it was on Angel Island. The birds sang to the tune of the humming stream whilst the whistling wind recklessly weaved through the trees surrounding the Master Emerald. The giant green gem was taller than Knuckles and radiated more power than Sonic could ever imagine. It stood nobly upon its stone platform and seemed so pure and fresh. The forest suddenly went silent. Even the wind stopped, leaving an eerie silence to fill the air.

"Knuckles, I've got a bad feeling about this..." Sonic said as a great big robot materialized from behind the trees. The robot was enormous, at least the size of a double-decker bus, it had the body of a spider and had thousands of aerodynamic arms with bird-like feet ready to attack.  
"Really? What gave it away? The great big blooming robot?" Knuckles said sarcastically.  
Sonic smirked a mischievous smirk and looked at the robot, then they spotted a red logo of a man's face with a long and bushy mustache on the robots side.

"EGGMAN!" They both yelled at the same. Sonic zoomed off instantly, ready to fight anyone who stood in his way of finding Tails and destroying the robot. Knuckles stood is ground, willing to protect the Emeralds at any cost. The robot used its little arms to lash out at Knuckles, though he managed to dodge all of them, they certainly were fast.

Knuckles smashed several of the arms, but more arms replaced them. Sonic tried to attack the robot with a homing attack but one of the arms grabbed him around the leg. "Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, trying to wriggle out of the robots grip but more and more hands grabbed hold of him.

Suddenly, faster than you could say _Chili Dog,_ Sonic's arms, legs and body was completely restrained by the little arms. The metal arms lifted Sonic up towards the robot's eye, where Dr Eggman and a Komodo dragon were sitting and laughing. The dragon seemed rather thin and dainty but Sonic could sense that he was dangerous. His cruel, glowing, red eyes seemed to grab hold of Sonic's heart and trying to squeeze any fear out of him. Sonic gritted his teeth "Where's Tails? What have you done to him?" Sonic demanded, still fighting and trying to break free of the robots grasp.

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that little punk," Eggman laughed.  
"If you've hurt him, I swear you'll pay!" Sonic snarled.  
"Ho, ho, ho, well I'm trembling in my boots," Eggman laughed. "Once again, Sonic has come to save the day! But this time you will fail," Eggman continued.  
"That'll be a first," Knuckles muttered, as he fought the robot.

"One more word Eggman, and your life won't be worth living," Sonic threatened. His patience was quickly getting shorter, like the lit fuse on a bomb.  
"Oh come now Sonic, you and I both now you're sending me empty promises. You see Sonic, this robot is called The Hydra and will be the end of your annoying little life. It is unstoppable and especially designed to catch certain blue hedgehogs. So I'd say it's been nice knowing you, but it hasn't," he continued.

"Why don't you just rip 'em apart already?" the Komodo Dragon said, losing his patience. His scales were red and black, the opposite fur markings of Shadow. It was as if this guy just represented fear and darkness, but it didn't scare Sonic. Sonic noticed that he was wearing a necklace, it was like the ying and yang but it was in the shape of a water droplet or flame but he only had one blue half, which seemed totally out of character with the rest of his appearance.

"Well that's awfully nice of you , but I think I'll pass on that one," Sonic said sarcastically turning his attention to Eggman.  
"HYDRA ATTACK!" Eggman bellowed.

The metal arms began to pull at Sonic's limbs, he clamped his eyes shut as he felt a burning pain in each limb. Sonic began to roar in agony, then he heard a sort of grinding sound, followed by a terrible crack. His left arm had just been pulled out of joint!  
"Aaaahhh!" Sonic screamed, before passing out from the agony.  
"Sonic!" Knuckles yelled.

Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared from the woods and had a battle knife in her hand.  
"Karn, stop this madness. Release him!" A female voice bellowed.  
"Ha ha ha, we'll its nice of you to join us, my dear but - " The Dragon, known as Karn called, but before he could finish his sentence the figure launched her knife at the machine. It hit the robotic arms that held Sonic, and his unconscious body began to fall through the air, fortunately Knuckles ran over and managed to catch him in time.

Knuckles quickly and carefully carried him towards a tree and put him down out of the robot's reach. Knuckles then ran back towards the Emerald.  
"No, the Emerald!" Knuckles yelled as he watched the little arms grab the Emerald and slowly began to lift it up. But the Emerald didn't even leave the ground as the figure had already ran over and was slashing through the arms like they had been of paper. One of the robotic hands tried to grab her and grazed the figures arm. As the metal arm tried to retreat it got slashed and fell to the floor.

Sparks of electricity began to fly off the robot and a missile was suddenly fired at Knuckles and Sonic. The figure ran forth and made a huge force field around the Island. Knuckles noticed that the force field was made of water. Knuckles closed his eyes, expecting to be blown to pieces. The missile didn't even make a dint in the force field. At the sight of this the robot sped away.

"Who.. Who are you?" Knuckles cautiously asked, returning to Sonic's side.  
"My name is Aeronniell," she said, taking her hood down to show her beautiful face...

**Pronunciation= Eye- Ron- Knee - El**


	3. Chapter 3 - Help is at hand

**Chapter 3 - Help is at hand**

"I wonder where Tails could be, I've checked at the hospitals, Green Hill Zone and Station Square," Shadow thought out loud to himself as he walked along, staring at the green Chaos Emerald he had just found. "I also wish Sonic would hurry up, he's taking a long time..."

Shadow suddenly stopped as a group of intimidating men, robots and hedgehogs, appeared from behind the trees and stood in his way.  
"You'll get out of the way, if you know what's good for you," Shadow grumbled. Every man, robot and hedgehog drew their weapon in reply. Some had guns, others swords and some even had bows. Shadow sighed, before running forward and preparing to attack.

Shadow ran forth and hit the first group of swordsmen with his Chaos Spear and it knocked them effortlessly to the floor. Shadow could feel the breeze of arrows whizzing past his head and he listened as the arrows then imbedded themselves into the trees behind him. Shadow then used Chaos Control to teleport himself behind the group of archers and fired a few Chaos Spears at them. Shadow then began to run at the hedgehogs that were armed with guns...

"ENOUGH!" A voice suddenly yelled above the noise, everyone stopped fighting and turned to face the noise. Shadow turned around to see a crimson red and black Komodo Dragon. He looked a lot like Shadow but his skin was coloured the opposite way. He was holding onto Tails's arm with a firm grip. Tails's hands were bound behind his back and Shadow could see how tired he looked. Poor Tails could hardly stand without swaying back and forth, never mind run away or fight! Then Shadow noticed Tails's bleeding side. It had been bandaged, but Tails needed some real health care, quickly.

"Let him go!" Shadow demanded. The thin Dragon wore a black, leather vest. He also had a large iron sword by his side and a long black battle knife. Shadow couldn't help but stare at him with a look of pure hatred.  
"That's a no-can-do, but you're welcome surrender, besides it might even save his life.." The Dragon said casually, drawing his battle knife and holding it near Tails's throat.  
"Shadow, run," Tails groaned.  
Shadow thought for a second, he wouldn't risk Tails getting hurt so he couldn't attack. It seemed he didn't have any choice but to surrender. But at least he could try to help Tails recover if they were both together.

"Fine" he muttered, lowering his guard. Shadow stayed silent and looked down at the ground and closed his eyes. The Dragon smirked and clicked his fingers. Shadow grunted as he felt something heavy hit him on the back of the head, Shadow hit the ground hard and realized he only had a few seconds to act. _The Chaos Emerald _Shadow thought to himself. Shadow had it in his hand and used the last of his strength to quickly shove the green Emerald into the soil underneath him, before falling unconscious...

Aeronniell walked towards the stream to collect her knife. "Why Karn? Just why?" she whispered, lost in her own thoughts. It was Sonic's painful groans that finally brought her out of her trance. Aeronniell turned to look at Sonic and Knuckles. She quickly began to walk towards them and gently crouched beside Sonic. Carefully, she examined his injured arm.

Knuckles stared at Aeronniell for a moment. She was a silvery blue hedgehog. Her hair in a high plait and it hung loosely behind her. She wore a cyan dress with long sleeves, with dark blue leggings, black, leather finger less gloves and an old, weather-beaten ,dark turquoise cloak. She also had a sword, a bow and two knives, they were all decorated celtic - style. But the most unusual thing about the hedgehog was her eyes, they were neon blue and gleamed in the sunlight.

Knuckles gently shook himself out of his thoughts. He wasn't attracted to her but wow, was she pretty. To stop himself staring he looked down at Sonic, who was beginning to gain consciousness.

Aeronniell carefully sat him up. Sonic's head just fell forwards, he had no strength left in him. Aeronniell gently held Sonic's head on her hand. "What's your name?" she asked, looking up to Knuckles.  
"I'm Knuckles, and this is Sonic" he said.  
"Well Knuckles, I need your help. I need you to help me keep Sonic sat upright " She said.  
"What are you going to do?" Knuckles said firmly and warily.  
"Put his arm back in its socket before he wakes up" She said in such a way Knuckles knew it was going to hurt and take quite a while.

Knuckles helped to keep Sonic sitting up and watched as the water in the stream wrapped around Aeronniell's arms. After a few seconds, her hands began to glow blue. Aeronniell carefully manipulated his arm back into joint. Then Aeronniell put her glowing hand on to Sonic's shoulder until his shoulder also began to glow.

Aeronniell then went into her little leather bag and took out a few handkerchiefs and a little leather bottle inside of it was a golden- yellow liquid. Aeronniell managed to get Sonic to have a few sips of the honey-like drink.  
"What does that do?" Knuckles asked.  
"Oh, this. It's like a natural pain-killer so it will help him rest. It's made from the berries of what you call a 'health plant'. The seeds, leaves and roots heal people but the berries don't, but I realized that they act as a strong pain-killer," Aeronniell explained.  
"Not bad," Knuckles complimented.  
"Thanks," Aeronniell smiled.

Aeronniell then went towards the stream and whispered "freeze," a small part of the stream instantly froze. Aeronniell drew her knife and began to cut squares out of the ice and put them into a few thick handkerchiefs, that were placed on top of each other. She then tied the corners of the handkerchief together and made a little Ice-pack, which she put on Sonic's shoulder to prevent swelling.

"Melt," Aeronniell muttered to the stream. The ice quickly melted and continued to flow into the stream. "There.. That should heal up nicely. I just need to put it in a sling," she explained.  
"Your arm," Knuckles said with concern, looking at the cut on her arm.  
Aeronniell looked down at the cut and shrugged, "It's nothing," she said, getting a bit of bandage and trying to tie it around her cut.  
"Here, let me help" Knuckles offered, gently taking the bandage and carefully tying it around her wound.

"Thanks... So, who was that man who was with Karn?" Aeronniell asked whilst putting another handkerchief into stream and wringing it out before gently wiping the cut next to Sonic's eye.  
"You mean Eggman? He is basically a crazy, evil scientist who wants to rule the world, but Sonic stops him everytime... Who's Karn?" Knuckles said.

"Karn is my... Arch enemy, he used to live in the forest with me and the others but when he didn't become ruler, something snapped inside of him. Now he has sworn to destroy the forest and rule the land that is left. He is also an Elemental," She explained. Taking a large bandage out of her bag and beginning to put Sonic's arm into a sling.

"What's an Elemental? " Knuckles asked quietly.  
"You've never heard of an Elemental!" Aeronniell exclaimed. Knuckles shook his head.  
"Elementals live in the forests. We all have the ability to move or control things,"

"Like Physic powers," Knuckles mumbled. Aeronniell nodded.

"There's eight kinds of Elemental, although most of them aren't actually elements," Aeronniell explained tying a knot in the bandage and resting it on Sonic's good shoulder. She then gently helped Sonic to lie down.  
"What are the elements?" Knuckles asked.  
"Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Light, Dark, Vegetation and Emotion, but Emotion is a rare ability," Aeronniell answered.

"Karn is a Fire Elemental, I'm the one of only ones who can stop him because I'm a-," Aeronniell began  
"Water Elemental.. Right," Knuckles interrupted. "That's how you managed to heal Sonic and make the dome that protected us, isn't it?" He continued. Aeronniell nodded.  
"You really are a quick learner, aren't you?" Aeronniell smiled. Knuckles went a bit red in the face.

"So.. What actually brought you guys out here in the first place?" she asked, changing the subject.  
"Well I live here on the island and guard the Master Emerald but our friend, Tails, has disappeared, by the looks of things he's been kidnapped. Sonic came to warn me about something, but he didn't exactly know what it was he needed to warn me about, probably the attack and to guard the Master Emerald and the two Chaos Emeralds that are here, and that's all we know so far,"

"What made Sonic want to warn you?" Aeronniell asked.  
"I think Sonic said Tails left a message, before he was taken,"  
"I can help you find him, if you like, we're fighting the same people so we might as well join up," Aeronniell offered.  
"Y..you will?" Knuckles exclaimed clearly surprised in the best way possible.  
"Of course I will, What does he look like?"  
"He's a bright yellow, eight year old fox with Two tails. You can't exactly miss him," Knuckles smirked.

"T..Tails," Sonic murmured as he tried to wake up and even get up. Aeronniell and Knuckles turned.  
"Shh, easy now. Stay down," Aeronniell comforted, gently pushing back down as he tried to get up.  
"I..have..to find..Tails," Sonic managed weakly fighting against Aeronniell's gentle grip.  
"It's alright, just rest. I promise we'll get him back," she continued calmly. Sonic lay back down.  
"Tails," he continued muttering and moaning until he fell unconscious again.

Aeronniell continued to gently wipe his forehead with the cold damp cloth whilst exchanging stories with Knuckles.  
As it got darker Aeronniell lit a small fire and Knuckles began to cook some food for them.

After Aeronniell managed to get Sonic to eat some of his stew, she ate her own. Then Aeronniell put her cloak over Sonic like a blanket, before settling down to sleep. Knuckles yawned and began to doze off. Soon all three of them were fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4 - Shadow's in the dark

**Chapter 4 - Shadows in the dark**

"Where...where am I?" Shadow muttered sitting himself up. Shadow panicked when he noticed his hands were in shackles made of fire! But he forced himself to calm down when he noticed that they weren't actually burning him. His head was pounding and he could feel something warm trickling down his face. Shadow touched his head and winced, he looked down at his hand which now had a few drops of blood on it.

"Oh, great" he said to himself. "Wait a second, where's Tails?" Shadow looked around. The small room was made of solid metal and Shadow somehow knew that it was incredibly thick. There wasn't even a door. There was a small room in the corner, which Shadow guessed was the toilet. The main light came from a tiny window, which was incredibly high up and had bars made from fire. Shadow realised that he was on the top of a bunk bed. He carefully climbed down and saw Tails lying on the bottom bunk.

"Tails," Shadows breathed. Beginning to climb down to him, he stopped as he heard an evil laugh. "Who are you? Show yourself," Shadow demanded. Looking around the room frantically with clenched fists. The front wall suddenly disappeared revealing the bars of a cage. Stood in front of the bars was the same Komodo Dragon that had threatened Tails earlier.

"I said, Who are you? And what do you want?" Shadow growled, rapidly losing his patience.  
"My name is Karn, and I came to give you this," He said throwing a roll of bandage at Shadow, who caught it with his sharp reflexes. Shadow knew this wasn't the real reason that Karn had come and that it was probably to check they hadn't escaped, but Shadow kept quiet. He had more important things to deal with, like Tails.

Shadow turned and ignored the Dragon. He was the reason Tails needed a bandage on the first place, so he didn't see any reason why he should grateful.  
"Worthless," Karn sneered. Shadows anger began to rise, but as his anger rose so did the temperature of the shackles. Shadow had to force himself to calm down and focus on helping Tails.  
"It is you that is worthless, not me. I've got friends that care. All I see are men that fear you," Shadow said boldly. The metal wall quickly returned as if Karn had nothing to say in reply. Shadow smirked and crouched down beside Tails to look at his side.

"Tails.. Can you hear me?" Shadow said gently shaking his shoulder. Tails began to come round.  
"Shadow... Ouch, It really hurts," Tails managed weakly.  
"I know Tails, I know," Shadow said gently. "Your lucky, it's just a flesh wound and nothing too serious," Shadow explained. Shadow helped Tails sit up and began to bandage his wound. Shadow was forced to leave the old bit of bandage on, as it may have caused the bleeding to stop, removing it would just reopen the wound and put Tails in more danger.

"What happened to you?" Shadow asked.

"Two guys came into the workshop. They started talking about making an immortal army and getting the Emeralds. When they threatened Knuckles, I was about to leave but I made a bit of a racket. Then they came to get me. But I fell on some glass as I was fighting," Tails slowly explained.

Tails lay back down and began to fall asleep again but Shadow made sure Tails slept on his good side to slow the bleeding down. Poor Tails couldn't stay awake. Shadow knew that he probably felt ill from losing a fair amount of blood and the stress and fear didn't exactly help to rest , but Shadow understood and left him to sleep.

Shadow noticed four blankets at the bottom of the bed. He managed to roll one of the blankets up and put it under Tails's head to serve as a pillow and put the other one over him, to serve as a blanket.  
Shadow kept the other two blankets for himself, and lay on his bed in the darkness, hoping that help would come soon. They needed it...


	5. Chapter 5 - The search begins

**Chapter 5 - The search begins**

The next morning, Knuckles was the first to wake up. The sun could just be seen above the trees and the birds were beginning to sing, as they splashed in the stream. Knuckles looked at Sonic, he was in an uneasy sleep but he looked a lot better than he did last night. Knuckles stayed quiet and went to check on the Master Emerald.

When Knuckles returned Aeronniell was already awake.

"Good morning," Aeronniell smiled, rubbing her eyes.  
"Morning," Knuckles said, rather half-heartedly.  
"Something wrong?" She asked, trying to revive the fire by prodding it with a stick and putting a few twigs and branches onto the glowing embers.  
"Yes, I mean no... I'm just confused about ..stuff," He admitted.

"Stuff like?"

"Whether I should help Sonic find Tails, or guard the Emerald. I swore to protect the Master Emerald with my life, but Tails could be in serious trouble and I really want to help find him," he sighed, grabbing stone from beside him and throwing it as far as he could into the distance.

"It's a blessing and a burden, huh... Maybe I can help. Can you remember when I made that force field out of water to protect the Island?" She asked. Knuckles nodded.  
"Yeah, and I'm very grateful for that," Knuckles said.  
"You're welcome, but what I'm trying to say is I could do that to the Emeralds to protect them from Karn and Dr Eggman. Then you could help look for Tails," Aeronniell explained. Knuckles thought in silence for quite a while. But Aeronniell was patient.  
"Alright then, Thanks," He beamed. Aeronniell could tell how much stress and pressure had been lifted from his mind.

"So, would the force field be there all the time?" Knuckles asked curiously. She nodded.  
"Day and night, it even lasts when I'm asleep or even if I end up unconscious," Aeronniell smiled.  
Knuckles was impressed, and he couldn't be grateful enough.

It was about then that Sonic began to wake up, Both Knuckles and Aeronniell noticed almost instantly.  
"Where.. Where am I? "Sonic muttered to himself as he tried to sit up. "Ow! What happened to my arm?".  
Knuckles walked towards him and offered him a hand. Reluctantly Sonic accepted it and managed to sit himself up.  
"You're on Angel Island and you hurt your arm when you were fighting Eggman and Karn," Aeronniell explained.

"I'm sorry.. Have we met?" Sonic asked.  
"Sonic, this is Aeronniell," Knuckles explained.  
"But you can call me Aero, If you find that easier," Aeronniell commented. Sonic nodded.  
"Aeronniell saved your life and healed your arm while you were unconscious," Knuckles added.  
"Thanks!" Sonic exclaimed.

Aeronniell just smiled "Don't mention it ... How is your arm anyway?" she asked.  
"Painful.. It's like a tearing burn, or the worst stitch ever," he said wincing as he tried to move it around. Aeronniell offered him the leather bottle which contained the juice of the health berries.  
"For the pain," she explained. Sonic took the bottle and took a little mouthful. The juice was very sweet, almost sickly but it dulled the pain almost instantly. When he tried to give Aeronniell the bottle back she refused.  
"You need it more than I do," Aeronniell said. Sonic smiled...

It was mid-morning and the three were well rested and fed. Everyone had exchanged stories and we're ready to hit the road.  
"What do you think we should do now?" Knuckles asked.  
"We should take the Tornado down to Station Square and start looking for Tails?" said Sonic.  
"Right, but we don't even know where to look, how are we supposed to find Tails? " Knuckles said.  
"Karn will be keeping him in his hideout. They usually aren't hard to find, so some of the locals might have seen something suspicious. Then we just have to follow their trail," Aeronniell said.

"Wait.. Doesn't the Tornado only seat one?" Knuckles asked. Sonic shook his head.  
"Not anymore," Sonic grinned. "That's what Tails was doing to his plane, So I could drive, whilst Aero gets in the back.. And you can hang on for dear life" he continued cheerfully.  
"What would we do without your generosity?" Knuckles said sarcastically

About an hour later, Sonic and the others arrived at Station Square.  
"Next time, I'm walking," Knuckles muttered, he looked green and couldn't walk in a straight line. Aeronniell and Sonic just laughed.  
"Sorry about that Knuckles.. But it wasn't bad for one-handed driving, " Sonic said, as he calmed down from laughing

"So there Wasn't an Emerald in the Tornado, so maybe Tails took it out of the plane when he was working on it," Knuckles thought outloud a little while later.

Sonic led Aeronniell to Tails's Workshop and they went inside. Aeronniell looked around in horror.  
"You will pay for this Karn! This time you went too far," Aeronniell growled, clenching her fists.  
"Aero, you ok?" Sonic asked. She nodded as she forced herself to calm down.  
"I'm fine Sonic, I'm just annoyed. This is pretty low, even for a traitor like Karn," she said.  
"Let's just find the Chaos Emerald and start looking for Shadow," Knuckles said calmly. Aeronniell nodded and began to look at the footprints that were left in the dust.

"Two other men were here, " Aeronniell muttered, crouching down to look at the tracks. "They turned sharply. They were looking over there," she continued, pointing towards the clearing where the Tornado had been.  
"Aeronniell, what are you talking about?" Sonic asked, but Aeronniell wasn't listening.

"The men started to walk towards the clearing," she said, getting louder and more confident with each assumption. Aeronniell walked towards the clearing in the workshop. "The dust is a mess. They must have spotted your friend and came to get him but it looks like he put up a pretty good fight for someone his size and age," Aeronniell said.

"Aeronniell... What about the blood? Can you tell anything from it?" Sonic said, the worry and fear was obvious in his voice. Aeronniell looked at the blood for quite a while before speaking again.  
"Well.. Judging on the footprints, It looks like your friend fell and landed on the glass. The amount of blood shows that he either wasn't here long after he was hurt, Or that it is just a little flesh wound,"

Sonic sighed with relief, this was a pretty good sign.

"I found the Emerald!" Knuckles exclaimed as he appeared from behind the forge holding up a yellow gemstone, that was the size of a large apple. Knuckles face was dirty from the soot and ash, which made Sonic smirk.

"Well it's about time," A voice suddenly came from behind...


	6. Chapter 6 - Fire and Water

**Chapter 6 - Fire and Water**

"Karn! Leave!" Aeronniell bellowed.  
"Now, why would I do that Aeronniell? Give me the Emeralds and I might even release your friends," Karn smirked.  
"Wait a minute... You said friends, with a S," Sonic said.  
"No I didn't I said friend," Karn said impatiently.  
"You meant plural Karn, now who is it?" Knuckles demanded.  
"Karn, Tell us or you'll regret it," Aeronniell threatened. Karn sighed and waved his hand as it erupted into flames. The flames then shaped themselves into a sort of mirror.

As Sonic looked closer he could see Shadow and Tails. Tails was lying on the bed and looked absolutely terrible. Sonic could see the bandage that was wrapped around his side and guessed Shadow was looking after him, which gave Sonic hope. Shadow didn't look any better either. He was sat on the top bunk rubbing his shackled wrists, whilst keeping guard, he was definitely wearing down. "Shadow! Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. Suddenly the image dispersed as Karn lashed out at it.

Karn began to laugh. "It's hopeless. Give me the Emerald and I swear I shall release your friends,"  
"Are you sure you've put a S on friends this time?" Sonic smirked. Karn began to growl in frustration.  
"I will destroy you for that!" Karn snarled.  
"Look at me, I'm trembling," Sonic said sarcastically.  
"Just you wait until I get my hands on you.."  
" I think you need to wait, until you can get your hands on a shower," Sonic muttered, loud enough so that everyone could hear him. Aeronniell and Knuckles tried to hold back their laughs.  
"Are you dis-respecting me?" Karn snapped.  
"Maybe," Sonic said calmly.

Several other criticisms and comebacks travelled back and forth. Karn was going crazy but Sonic was still as cool as a cucumber all the time. "Karn, as entertaining as this is, time is pressing... I challenge you to a fight! If I win we keep the Emerald and you tell us where Shadow and Tails are. If you win you get the Emerald," Aeronniell exclaimed. Sonic looked a little disappointed at the fact he couldn't wind Karn up anymore.

"Very well - on one condition," Karn said darkly.  
"Name it," she blurted.  
"If I win you all surrender to me," He replied coldly.  
Aeronniell turned towards the others, they both silently nodded "done, but swear upon your ashes that you will stay true to your word,"  
"Fine, I swear upon my ashes that I will keep my word," Karn sighed.

Seconds later Karn's hands burst into flames and a ball of fire was thrown at Sonic. "Karn this is between us, leave them out of it!" Aeronniell thundered, attacking the flame with water whilst it was in midair. Sonic and Knuckles scrambled over to the forge and took shelter behind it.

Karn continued to attack Aeronniell with fireballs but Aeronniell put them out before they could cause any damage. "Sonic, get the tap," Knuckles whispered, pointing over to the little metal sink.  
Sonic nodded and zoomed over and turned both taps on as far as they could go. Karn noticed what Sonic was doing and launched a fireball at him.  
"SONIC, LOOK OUT!" Knuckles bellowed.  
Aeronniell looked over and managed to use the water from the taps to make a shield around Sonic just in time.

Now that she had enough water, Aeronniell made the turn water into a huge sphere. Karn blasted the water with fire but the water just engulfed him and began to move towards the door. Aeronniell walked the sphere out of the workshop and out into the open. Suddenly, Aeronniell used all of her strength to throw the sphere into the ground, as the sphere burst it left Karn coughing and spluttering.

"You.. You've been practicing," Karn panted.  
"Practicing on traitors like you,"Aeronniell snapped grabbing Karn by his collar." Now where are Shadow and Tails?" She demanded.  
"They are in my fortress," Karn muttered,  
"Where is the fortress?"  
"It's in Seaside Hill, most of the men have left. So I left them there to keep 'em quiet," Karn smirked.  
"Leave now, and if I find out your lying, I'll leave you in the sphere," Aeronniell threatened.

"Karn, why don't you just go home? You're still welcome there, you're just being stupid," Aeronniell said.  
"They've always wanted rid of me, they just saw the attack as an excuse," Karn muttered.  
"Then why did they ask you to be ruler?" Aeronniell exclaimed.

Karn suddenly stood and slowly limped away. "I cannot return there, the Ancient Ones may welcome me but the others won't,"  
Aeronniell was about to follow him but Sonic came out to the workshop.

"Aero, you did it!" Sonic exclaimed.  
"Like you thought I wouldn't.. Water is stronger than fire anyway," Aeronniell smiled.  
"How come?" Sonic asked.  
"If you put water on a flame, what happens?"Knuckles asked Sonic, impatiently.  
"Oh,The flame gets put out, Sorry, wasn't thinking," Sonic smirked.

"So, where are Shadow and Tails? " Knuckles asked a little while later.  
"In Karn's fortress in Seaside Hill. The way Karn was talking they don't have much time either," Aeronniell explained.  
"Well, let's go," Sonic said preparing to run.  
"Wait Sonic, We need something to travel on too," Knuckles said. Aeronniell suddenly let out a single, long whistle which seemed to travel in the wind. A few seconds of silence was followed by the sound of hoofbeats _1,2,3, 1,2,3 Sonic counted._

"Here he comes," Aeronniell whispered to herself.  
"Here who comes?" Sonic asked trying to look out into the distance.

"Thunder,"Aeronniell beamed...

**From here on the chapters keep at this sort of length, (Sorry) but I'll try and make them a little bigger if I can**


	7. Chapter 7 - On the right track

**Chapter 7 - On the right track**

Sonic knew Aeronniell was full of surprises, but he didn't expect her to have a horse that answered her every call. "Hey boy," Aeronniell smiled rubbing his beautiful black head. Thunder was a black stallion with a little white star on his forehead.

"Knuckles, can you stay balanced on a horse?" Aeronniell asked. Knuckles nodded.  
"So you two are gonna ride this big guy to Seaside Hill?... Can he go that far? It's a long way," Sonic remarked. Thunder stamped his foot, like the remark had offended him. "Thunder is tough, he can do it," Aeronniell giggled, as Thunder gently tried to nibble at her nose.

"Ok boy. Let Knuckles get up," she said calmly and gently. Thunder did as he was asked. Knuckles then carefully mounted. "Good boy," Aeronniell praised.  
Aeronniell then mounted and sat in front of Knuckles. "Um Aero, isn't he supposed to have a saddle and stuff," Sonic asked.  
Aeronniell gently kicked Thunder's sides and allowed him to set of at a canter. "Who needs those?!" Aeronniell called. Sonic grinned and ran after them...

"Shadow, are you okay!?" Tails exclaimed.  
"I'm fine Tails, but those burning bars aren't our best escape route," Shadow sighed, staring at the window that had just given him his latest injury.

Shadow had climbed onto the windowsill, but the burning shackles had suddenly heated up and burned his wrists. The pain had caused Shadow to fall off the window ledge, fortunately he landed on his feet. He wouldn't let Tails see the burns, as they were pretty bad. It annoyed Shadow that he couldn't get out when his friend needed help, but what annoyed him more was that he couldn't get annoyed because the burning shackles would violently heat up whenever he got angry or tried to escape. It was like a never-ending cycle!

Tails tried to move up the bed to get comfortable but it just hurt his side. "Shadow do you think all the guards have left?" he asked.  
"I'm not sure Tails..It has gotten quiet lately.. Maybe that's because they've gone to meet up with that army for when they get turned immortal, or whatever it is they're planning,"

Tails nodded. "I hope Sonic comes soon, it looks like he's our only chance," Tails yawned.  
"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon,"Shadow promised. Shadow turned around he realized Tails had fallen asleep but he was shivering. Shadow sacrificed one of his blankets and put it over Tails.  
"Sleep tight," Shadow muttered...

Sonic was running beside Aeronniell and Knuckles. "Hey Aero, Do you have a plan or are we just gonna wing it? I'm used to winging it but I thought I'd check," He called.  
"We need to see how well the fortress is guarded first and then we can see what needs to be done,"Aeronniell called back.  
Sonic suddenly stopped. Aeronniell got Thunder to do a U-turn and he stopped when he came back to Sonic.

"Sonic, what's going on?" Knuckles asked. Aeronniell dismounted and helped Knuckles down.  
"Look," Sonic said, picking a half buried green gem out of the earth.  
"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles exclaimed.  
"I wonder what it's doing here," Sonic muttered to himself.  
"It looks like someone has deliberately put it there... Maybe it was your friend Shadow," Aeronniell said. Sonic nodded in agreement.

"Come on, we don't have long remember?" Knuckles said after a few seconds. The others nodded. Knuckles and Aeronniell mounted Thunder again and continued down the road with sonic hot on their heels.

_Something isn't right _Sonic thought to himself. _Shadow never leaves an Emerald behind.. Unless he remembered that Karn wanted the emeralds, but still, maybe Karn is worse than I thought..._


	8. Chapter 8 - Rescue

**Chapter 8 - Rescue **

Sonic and the others finally found the fortress. "What the.. It's deserted!" Sonic exclaimed. The fortress had been built into the cliff so it was difficult to find. It had been only been Knuckles's keen eye that had spotted the doorway. There was a few windows carved into the rock, some of the windows had bars of fire on them, but Sonic guessed most of the fortress had electrical lighting. The strangest thing was that there were no guards in sight. This left Sonic confused but he wouldn't back down now. He was so close to finding Tails and Shadow, he couldn't give in because of his suspicions of there being a trap.

"Come on, We have to keep moving. If Shadow and Tails are in there, now is the perfect time to get them out," Knuckles said impatiently.  
"Relax, Knuckles. Look," Aeronniell said pointing at the main door. A large group of soldiers were leaving through the front door. They walked quickly like they were eager to leave.. Or to get somewhere.  
"That's the last," A short hedgehog called. Aeronniell recognised the hedgehog. It was Conrad.

"What abouwt the pwrisoners?" A large hedgehog called.

"Stephenson?" Aeronniell whispered, clearly disappointed.  
"Huh?" Sonic asked. Aeronniell shook her head.  
"Nothing, it's just another one of my friends that's betrayed the forest,"

"Our orders are to leave 'em 'til we get back. It's not like they can get out anyway," the Conrad replied, laughing at his remark.  
"Now's our chance,"Aeronniell whispered. "Let's go," Aeronniell exclaimed.

After quietly running towards the fortress, Sonic, Knuckles and Aeronniell entered. "Keep alert," Aeronniell warned. Sonic took the lead and quickly began to make his way through a series of hallways. The hallways were made of metal, which caused an annoying echo as they ran. The only light came from electrical lights that were on the ceiling, like Sonic guessed. But now the lights flickered and dwindled.

"How do you even know where you're going?" Knuckles asked.  
"This is one of Eggman's bases, he always has the prison cells on the middle floor," Sonic explained.

Sonic would stop and peer around every corner. His good hand would often wander towards his injured arm. It was like he expected The Hyrda to be around every turn. Sonic still had his bad arm in a sling but he didn't really have to drink the juice of the health berries as much, as his arm didn't hurt anymore. Yet Aeronniell insisted that he needed to kept the sling on for at least another week.

"Heads up," Sonic whispered, peering around the corner. Three large robots were standing on guard but there was only a few buttons on a metal wall to protect.  
"We need to get rid of them," Sonic whispered "But as you can see, I'm sorta out of action for a while," he sighed, pointing at his arm. Knuckles rolled his eyes and suddenly ran forth. With one big crash, the robots were gone  
"Piece of Cake," he smirked.

Sonic ran forth and looked at the controls. "These are definitely prison cells, but they're a lot more advanced than before," Sonic reported.  
"So can you get in or not?" Aeronniell asked. Sonic shook his head.  
"Not without the key," he replied. Aeronniell looked at the keyhole. It was a thin rectangular shape and somehow Aeronniell knew that Karn's necklace was the key. _Perhaps my half of the necklace will work_, Aeronniell thought.  
"Keep watch, I'll try to get us in," Aeronniell explained.

As Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other and we're pretty confused but they turned around anyway. Aeronniell took her red necklace off and put it into the keyhole. Just then Sonic turned around and spotted her necklace. He instantly realised that it was very similar to the necklace Karn had been wearing, but he decided to say nothing. Maybe it was just a cultural thing, Sonic wasn't so sure. The wall suddenly began to slide away. Once the wall was gone, Sonic and Knuckles got the shock of their life.

Behind the bars of the cage, Shadow was lying face down on the floor, Sonic guessed he had collapsed. Tails was asleep on the metal bed, large beads of cold sweat covered his face and he shivered under the blankets.

"Tails, Shadow.. What happened to you guys!" Sonic exclaimed. Aeronniell opened the door lock with her dagger and then rushed inside to help. Shadow slowly gained consciousness and looked at Aeronniell who had crouched down beside him and turned him over to he could see her. Aeronniell kept hold of him, as he looked to weak to sit up

"Who are you?" Shadow croaked as Aeronniell used her water powers to distinguish the burning shackles.

"My name is Aeronniell, now come on let's get you out of here," Aeronniell smiled. Knuckles was standing watch and Sonic was stood next to Tails, trying to wake him up. "Those burns are pretty bad, when we get out of here I'll heal them for you," she smiled. Shadow quietly thanked her before she went to quickly check Tails. Shadow sat himself up on the floor so he could fully come round. Aeronniell checked for Tails's pulse. It was strong and regular. "He'll be alright once we get this wound sorted," Aeronniell explained before picking Tails up and carrying him outside the cell.

"Need a hand?" Knuckles asked coming into the cell and helping Shadow to his feet. Shadow tried to stand up by himself but he crumbled back down again. Knuckles caught him and put Shadows arm around Knuckles's neck so that he could help him walk. "Shadow, lean on me, stop trying to do this by yourself," Knuckles said firmly after a few steps. Shadow was too tired to disobey or argue so he leaned on Knuckles a little bit more.

"Let's go," Sonic said as he held the door for Knuckles and Shadow. Aeronniell was still carrying Tails but she had left the blankets on him to try and keep him warm as they quickly fled. Tails groaned and clung on to Aeronniell's sleve.

"It's alright Tails, I promise," she gently whispered ...

**This story isn't finished, there are 15 chapters in total.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Secrets exposed

**Chapter 9 - Secrets exposed**

Getting into the cell was quite easy, but once he was inside, Sonic realized how hard it would be to escape when the wall was down. It was because of this Sonic decided to keep quiet and not mention anything, especially when he saw how many injuries Shadow had gained whilst trying to escape.

The group had found a large deep cave to rest in for the night. It was dry and airy, so no-one could really complain. It was getting dark and it had also began to lightly rain outside. Everyone was tired, wet and just wanted to get some rest. Aeronniell set Tails down against the wall and pulled the blankets up to his chin. Sonic sat beside Tails, with a look of worry and fear etched upon his face.

Knuckles had helped Shadow sit down at the mouth of the cave, as he had asked. Shadow watched in fascination as Aeronniell's hands glowed blue and healed Tails's wound with a gentle touch. But Shadow was quite surprised when she walked over and crouched beside him.

"Let me see your wrists," Aeronniell asked gently. Shadow did as he was asked.  
"How did you get burns like this?" she asked holding his wrists and inspecting his burns.  
"The shackles," Shadow muttered bluntly. "Whenever I got mad or wanted to escape they would heat up,". Aeronniell nodded and healed his wrists. "Thanks," Shadow added quietly. Aeronniell smiled and left Shadow and Tails to rest.

Knuckles began to cook a small meal for everyone. Tails was still asleep and Shadow kept nodding off, but was fighting his weariness. Aeronniell was sat outside lightly brushing Thunder, whilst Sonic had sat down and was quietly telling Knuckles what he had seen earlier. "I'm telling you Knuckles, the necklaces match. I've got a feeling Aeronniell might be hiding something," Sonic whispered.

"You're being paranoid," Knuckles grumbled. "All Aeronniell has done is help us, if it wasn't for her Tails and Shadow would still be stuck in that cell. Be grateful already," he continued angrily.  
Sonic was about to argue but Aeronniell came in. "Foods done," Knuckles said.  
"Great, I was getting hungry," Aeronniell smiled. Sonic managed to wake Tails up and everyone began to eat.  
"So ..Tails, why did Karn actually take you in the first place," Knuckles asked. Tails explained everything that had happened at the workshop.

"An immortal army.. Is that even possible?" Sonic exclaimed when Tails finished his story.  
"It is possible, but boy is it hard to do. You need some serious brains and power just to make one person immortal, but a whole army is just something else," Aeronniell said.

"Wait.. Stephenson had a big white gem. It wasn't a Chaos Emerald but it was similar.. It seemed more powerful, a lot more powerful," Tails exclaimed.  
"So do you think this white gem would power the machine?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, it does," a very familiar voice exclaimed from outside the cave. Shadow was standing in less than a second, a ball of Chaos Energy was wrapped around his clenched fist. Everyone except Tails also stood up.

"Karn, will you ever take the hint? Leave, you're not welcome here," Aeronniell snapped.  
"Well that's some way to treat your little brother, isn't it?" Karn smirked.  
"What?!" everyone exclaimed at the same time.

Aeronniell suddenly ran outside and began to fight Karn "You're no brother of mine!" she screamed. Aeronniell swung a punch at Karn but he managed to dodge it. Karn spotted that her guard was down as she tried to punch him again, so he sent a strong kick straight into her gut. Aeronniell was winded and Karn took the opportunity to hit her again, and again .. And again.

Knuckles began to run forwards to help but Aeronniell made a wall of water to stop him getting out and helping her. "This is between us," she groaned.

"No, Aeronniell let me through!" Knuckles demanded punching the wall. Karn let Aeronniell get on her hands and knees as she tried to stand up but as soon as she began to get up, Karn put both hands together and whacked Aeronniell on the back, leaving Aeronniell lying face down on the sand.

"Aeronniell, Get up!" Knuckles encouraged. Aeronniell seemed to hear and began to get back up. Karn was ready to hit her again but Aeronniell was faster. She drew her knife and swung it at Karn's legs. Karn leapt back in alarm and drew his own sword. Aeronniell stood for a moment and drew her other knife. She held them so the blade was pointing behind her.

After catching her breath, Aeronniell dived forwards and swung her own two daggers wildly. Karn kept calm and continued to dodge and deflect Aeronniell's attacks. Aeronniell was filled with rage, she had never been so angry in her entire life, and as a result Aeronniell wasn't thinking straight. Every time Karn had the chance he would stab her in the arms, legs and, if he had the chance, her stomach with his sword. Aeronniell suddenly collapsed onto her knees panting heavily.

Knuckles suddenly broke through the wall of water and ran towards Aeronniell. Karn aimed his sword and prepared to strike but Knuckles charged forwards and punched Karn as hard as he could. Karn was sent hurtling back into the forest and disappeared from sight.

"Aeronniell come on, get up," Knuckles whispered as he helped her sit up. Aeronniell was exhausted and bleeding terribly from the large cuts and slashes all over her body, but she suddenly pushed Knuckles out of the way and limped towards Thunder.

"Aero, where are you going!" Sonic called. "You need help,"

"I can't stay here. I lied to you, I.. I betrayed the only friends I've had in a long time. I'm sorry but I have to go," Aeronniell wept, as she mounted Thunder and set off before anyone could stop her...


	10. Chapter 10 - A question of Loyalty

**Chapter 10 - A question of Loyalty**

"We should just let her go. She lied to us and would have continued to lie if Karn hadn't said anything," Sonic exclaimed angrily.  
"Sonic, leave her be. We all owe her our lives, you can't just turn your back on her. Not after what she's done for us," Shadow argued.  
"Shadow's right. Sonic she saved my life, and now she's really hurt. We have to try and find her," Tails added.  
"Oh please, that was all just an act," Sonic ignorantly said, rolling his eyes. "She's probably heading back to his HQ to get healed and think of an excuse,"

"Leave her alone Sonic!" Knuckles suddenly yelled. Tails was sure he had just felt the ground shake. "She isn't a fake, she's as honest and brave as you are!... Now I'm going to go and find my friend, before she gets herself killed," Knuckles took the leather pouch, containing the health berries, and a few bandages and left before Sonic could argue...

Aeronniell was battered, bruised and bleeding heavily. Yet she didn't stop, she had to get away from here, from everything she knew and start again. Eventually, as she calmed down she realised how tired Thunder was getting. Feeling cruel for making Thunder run so fast, she stopped and let him rest. Aeronniell then walked with Thunder until they came to a little wooden hut. It was near a stream and a large patch of grass, for Thunder to graze on for the night. Aeronniell decided it would do as a temporary shelter.

Aeronniell went inside the empty hut and tried to stay stood, instead she collapsed and fell unconscious. Outside the hut, Karn was quietly walking towards the door with two other men... Stephenson and Conrad.  
"What are we gonna do boss? Burn her out?" Conrad asked.  
"Well I was just going to threaten her, but that is a very good idea," Karn cruelly grinned.

Suddenly, Karn's hand burst into flames. Karn walked around the hut and set a fire at the back of the hut. "This will make her leave," he laughed.  
"Er bwoss, don't ya think we should check that she's in 'dere first?" Stephenson asked.  
"Well, if you're so concerned, why don't you go check?" Karn snapped, pushing Stephenson towards the flames. Stephenson peered through the window.  
"Er Bwoss... She ain't moving," he said.  
Karn sighed, as if disappointed. "Fine, drag her out,". Before extinguishing the flames with a flick of his hand.

Stephenson and Conrad quickly went into the hut and carried Aeronniell out. She began to wake up, but she was too weak to fight back but she did squirm a bit to make it as difficult as possible.

Karn made a cart made of flames to put Aeronniell in. It had thick walls of flame, with a tiny barred window on the door. A huge dragon made from amber flames was stood, ready to pull the cart along.

"Tie her up and put her in the cart. Then I want Conrad to stay in the cart with her," Karn instructed harshly. Conrad took a rope that was hanging on his shoulder and tightly tied Aeronniell's hands behind her back. He then tied her ankles together and then tied her arms to her sides. Karn inspected the bonds and muttered something to Conrad. Conrad smirked and finally gagged and blindfolded Aeronniell, before lifting her into the cart. All Aeronniell could do was painfully groan and try to curl into a ball.

The cart then set into motion as it headed towards the fortress.

Knuckles was running along the beach following Thunder's tracks. He then looked up to see smoke rising into the sky, like a snake that was heading towards its next meal. "Karn," Knuckles growled as he began to run faster. As he ran he suddenly had to dive out of the way, as Thunder ran towards him. Knuckles got to his feet and began to calm the panic-stricken horse.

"Easy boy, it's alright,"Knuckles soothed, gently stroking his muzzle.  
Once he had calmed down Thunder began to trot towards the smoke. Then he stopped and stomped his foot impatiently. "Do you want me to follow, boy?" Knuckles asked, as he jogged beside Thunder until they came to the hut.  
"Where's Aeronniell, Thunder?" Knuckles asked. Thunder stamped his foot impatiently again. Knuckles looked at the tracks in front of him. There was bits of rope and little rags of cloth scattered on the floor. Knuckles crouched down and looked at the rope.

"She's been taken, hasn't she?" Knuckles said quietly to Thunder.  
Thunder nodded his head and nickered softly. Knuckles mounted Thunder and set him into a very gentle walk.  
"Take me to her boy, but take your time," Knuckles muttered, as it occurred to him that Thunder had been running all day without a good rest. Thunder followed the cart tracks and would often go into a trot, as he was eager to find his friend and master...


	11. Chapter 11 - Betrayal

**Chapter 11 - Betrayal**

**Disclaimer - I do not own the song just the story and my OCs**

Aeronniell finally woke up two hours later, she had been tied to a metal chair in a dark room. The room was like a desert, hot and dry. Aeronniell tried to moisten her dry lips, but they were too dry and cracked. Aeronniell squirmed and fought as best she could, before finally accepting defeat. None of her wounds had been treated and she was still bleeding badly. Aeronniell was begining to feel dizzy and was losing consciousness again.

It was the cold, cruel laugh of Dr Eggman that brought Aeronniell round.  
"Ho, ho, ho," Eggman laughed loudly. Switching on the blinding lights.  
"Have you been hunting?" Aeronniell asked a few seconds later. Eggman suddenly stopped laughing.  
"What?" Eggman growled.  
"You have a dead animal tied to your face.. Oh wait, it's your mustache!," Aeronniell smirked. Aeronniell felt dreadfully ill, but she needed to stay awake. And this was the best way to do it, even if her comments weren't as good as Sonic's.

"How dare you! Do you realise how much care goes into this marvellous mustache?"  
"None," Aeronniell muttered.  
"I heard that," Eggman growled.  
"Well, that was the idea," Aeronniell said, mimicking his voice.

"I was going to offer you the chance to work with me, but you now have no choice in the matter," Eggman said darkly.  
"We'll see," Aeronniell muttered.  
Suddenly Eggman left, but he left the lights on.

Aeronniell began to quietly weep, not from sadness and fear but the pain Aeronniell's gut was burning as she breathed. Aeronniell quietly began to sing a little song to herself:

_May it be an evening star,_

_Shines down upon you,_

_May it be when darkness falls,_

_Your heart will be true,_

_You walk a lonely road,_

_Oh! How far you are from home,_

_Mornie Utùlie,_

(Darkness has come)

_Believe and you will find your way,_

_Mornie alantie,_

(Darkness has fallen)

_A promise lives within you now,_

_May it be the shadows call,_

_Will fly away,_

_May it be going journey on,_

_To light the day,_

_When the night is overcome,_

_You may rise to find the sun,_

_Mornie Utùlie ,_

_Believe and you will find your way,_

_Mornie Alantie,_

_A promise lives within you now,_

_A promise lives within you now..._

Just as Aeronniell finished, The door swung open. Dr Eggman walked in looking very pleased with himself. He walked towards Aeronniell. Eggman clicked his fingers and two robots appeared in the doorway, Carrying Karn's unconscious body in with them. "Karn!" Aeronniell exclaimed. Aeronniell watched as his limp body was dragged into the room and the two robots forced him onto his knees.

"Maybe this will make you be more cooperative. All I'm asking is that you lead Sonic and his friends to a set of co-ordinates," Dr Eggman said innocently.  
"What for?" Aeronniell snapped.  
"I want to keep them in prison cells until the forest is taken over by the other Elementals. Then they can go free and continue with their miserable lives," Dr Eggman explained.  
"You're lying!" Aeronniell spat. "I'll never do it,"

"I'm not lying and you don't exactly have a choice, if you want your brother to survive that is," Eggman said, clicking his fingers once again. One of the robots powered up its weapon and aimed it at Karn. "Last chance," Eggman grinned.

"Ok fine!" Aeronniell yelped. Aeronniell slumped down in the seat and hung her head in shame "Where do you want me to take Sonic and the others?" Aeronniell managed, hating herself as she spoke.  
"Flame Core, Tomorrow afternoon," Eggman instructed, gesturing for the robot to lower his weapon.

"Oh! Look who we have here," he said a second later suddenly sounding very cheerful. A hologram suddenly appeared in front of Aeronniell, showing Knuckles sneaking through one of hallways.

"Knuckles," Aeronniell breathed.

Eggman turned to Aeronniell "We must act quickly, this little device will enable me to see where you are 24/7. However it comes with a microphone, and camera. So if you try anything I will find out," he said revealing a tiny metal box, no bigger than a fingernail.

"What about my brother?" Aeronniell demanded.

"He will stay in the prison cells until your mission is complete. Now, if you would be so kind as to remove your glove," he continued untying Aeronniell's arms and hands.  
Aeronniell looked at the hologram of Knuckles and then at Karn "Do you swear that you will keep your word?" Aeronniell asked duly. Eggman nodded. Slowly Aeronniell took her right glove off and held out her trembling hand.

Dr Eggman dropped the little box into Aeronniell's palm. The box suddenly grew legs and crawled onto the back of her hand. The metal bug suddenly dug its sharp legs into her hand. Aeronniell winced and clenched her fists, it stung like crazy. The bug now seemed content as it sat on her hand. Aeronniell quickly put her glove back on and allowed Eggman to tie her up again.

"Break your promise," Aeronniell growled, "And I will kill you,"...

**For anyone that is interested, the song is called May it be (By Enya)**


	12. Chapter 12 - The past

**Chapter 12 - The truth **

Now that everyone had left, Aeronniell began to think carefully at what she had just done. Had she done the right thing? Only time would tell. All she could do for now, was wait for Knuckles and hope that Sonic didn't fall for the trap that was to come.

Suddenly, Aeronniell heard a massive crash. As she looked up, she saw the door fall to the floor. Knuckles stood in the doorway. "Knuckles!" Aeronniell exclaimed. "Y..you actually came for me," she said smiling.  
"Of course I came for you, Aeronniell. You're my friend.. Now come on, let's get you out of here," he replied. As he tried to break the chain. _You're my friend_ Aeronniell thought. _I haven't heard those words in four and a half years.. And now I'm going to destroy every friendship that I have._

Knuckles managed to snap the chain and then he helped Aeronniell to her feet. Aeronniell crumbled forwards, her wounds were just to big and painful. "Whoa, Easy Aero," Knuckles exclaimed as he caught her.  
"Knuckles, I don't think I can stand up," Aeronniell winced, as she examined the cuts and bruises on her legs, sides and arms. Knuckles thought for a second and then scooped her up from the floor and carried her out of the cell.  
"You'll be alright," he said quietly.  
Finally Aeronniell's exhaustion caught up with her. "Thank you," Aeronniell murmured, before falling unconscious...

Knuckles quietly ran through the halls. Occasionally Knuckles would put Aeronniell down and destroy a few robots. Dr Eggman was keeping most of his robots back, as he needed Aeronniell to escape but he still sent some of the weaker robots out to fight, so Knuckles didn't suspect anything. It was a sly trick but Eggman managed to pull it off.

Knuckles realised Aeronniell was running out of time. So he tried to avoid most of the fights and just concentrate on getting out of the base.  
"Hold on Aeronniell, we shouldn't be long now," Knuckles panted. Aeronniell just clung onto him.  
They had just made it out of Eggman's base, when Aeronniell began to gasp for breath and tried to curl into a ball, in an attempt to stop the pain. "Aeronniell hold on," Knuckles exclaimed as he sprinted, forcing himself onwards.

"Knuckles!" a voice called.  
Knuckles stopped and turned to see Shadow stood on top of a hill.  
"Shadow, get down here quick!" he called. Within a second Shadow was standing beside Knuckles.  
"Aeronniell," Shadow breathed, looking at her wounds.

"Shadow, I need you to get Aeronniell back to the cave? If she isn't healed soon she might-" Knuckles's voice trailed off.  
Shadow carefully took Aeronniell from Knuckles. " Don't worry, I'll get her back as quickly as I can,"  
"Thanks, now hurry," Knuckles said quickly. Shadow suddenly zoomed off with Aeronniell in his arms.

"Please hurry," Knuckles whispered. Just then he spotted Thunder trotting towards him. So Knuckles walked over to him and mounted. Knuckles then began to make his way back.

Shadow arrived at the cave a few seconds later. As soon as Sonic saw Aeronniell in Shadow's arms he ran over to help.  
"Shadow, what the heck happened?" he exclaimed. "Did Karn do this to her?"  
Shadow nodded and carefully lay Aeronniell onto a blanket that was on the floor.

Aeronniell instantly curled in to a ball, clutching her stomach. Her breathing was quick and shallow. There was blood all over Aeronniell's dress and Shadow also had a little blood on his chest. Aeronniell was groaning and murmuring as she continued to get weaker.

Shadow crouched beside Aeronniell, beads of sweat covered her brow. Shadow quickly took the green Emerald from Sonic and held it just above one of the wounds. Aeronniell began to stir and gently groaned as her wounds began to close up, Even her clothes began to repair and clean themselves.

It took a while, but all of Aeronniell's wounds healed just before Knuckles arrived.  
"Is she alright?" Knuckles asked as he rushed in.  
"She'll be fine," Shadow said, as Aeronniell began to wake up.  
"Where..where am I?" she muttered as she slowly tried to sit herself up.  
"Easy, Your back at the cave," Shadow said gently, as he helped her sit up.

"Aeronniell, why did you leave like that?" Sonic asked.  
"Sonic-" Knuckles began.  
"It's alright,"Aeronniell said. "You all deserve to know," she sighed...

"About 16 years ago, on my 1st birthday, A baby Komodo dragon was left on the doorstep, the name Karn was stitched onto his blanket.

My mother decided to take him in.

As he grew older everyone adored him. He was well-behaved and had lovely manners. But as you might have guessed, the other children loved bullying him. And when people found out he was a fire Elemental, the bullying got much worse. I did my best to stick up for him, I lost most of my friends in doing so, only Stephenson stayed loyal to me.

Yet despite all of the bullying, Karn was determined to rule the land. See every 5 years, the Ancient Ones, the people who keep order in the forest, have a vote for who they think would be fit to rule. Four and a half years ago, Karn did it, his dream actually came true. He was only 12 but he wasreally mature and acted like an adult all the time.

On his coronation day, the Ancient Ones had to leave as there was an emergency. But Karn was to be crowned like normal. But once the Ancient Ones left. The group of kids that picked on him suddenly attacked him and took the crown from him.

Something changed in Karn that day, something snapped. He went into a frenzy and tried to fight for the crown. I tried to stop the fighting, I protected Karn and tried to stop his attacks. Typically, The Ancient Ones returned and saw what had happened. Karn and I were arrested and we're sent into exile. The Ancient Ones wouldn't let me explain what had happened and so we had to leave.

A few months later, The Ancient Ones found out what had really happened and we were invited back. But Karn wouldn't go, and I'm not allowed to return unless Karn comes with me.

That's why I won't accept him as my brother any more," She explained.

"Well that explains a lot," Sonic said breaking an awkward silence.  
Aeronniell sighed. It was time to set the trap.a  
"I have to stop the machine, Eggman told me that the machine is powered by a rare and powerful gem: A white fire opal. According to legends there is also a black fire opal. If the gems touch they cancel each other out," Aeronniell explained.

"So then the machine would be powerless, right?" Tails said. Aeronniell nodded.  
"I think the black fire opal is in Flame Core," Aeronniell explained.  
"Ok then Aero, We'll set of tomorrow," Shadow said.

Everyone settled down to sleep, Aeronniell felt terrible. It was like someone had punched her in the gut with a iron fist. _Please don't fall for this trap, _she thought to herself, before allowing her weariness to take over and send her into an uneasy sleep..

**White and Black Fire Opals do exist, but in the story they are very rare, XD**


	13. Chapter 13 - The trap

**Chapter 13 - The trap**

The next morning, Aeronniell was the first to wake up. She quietly went over to the shore line. " Aeronniell... Aeronniell, do you read me?" A fuzzy voice said.  
"Your not a book Egg-Face, but yes I can hear you," she sneered quietly putting her hand up to her chin.  
"I require something else from you," He said.

"So not only have you attacked me, left me for dead, and are forcing me to betray my friends.. You now want something else? Well you can -," she snapped.

"Now, now Aeronniell remember who you are doing this for," he laughed coldly. Aeronniell froze.  
"Fine.. What do you want?" she growled.  
"I need you to capture Sonic and his friends for me once you get to Flame Core," he said, clearly enjoying how much stress he was causing Aeronniell.  
Aeronniell just stood in silence. "Fine," she choked.  
"Excellent," he replied darkly, before hanging up.

"Aeronniell, are you ok?" Tails asked, as he walked out of the cave. Aeronniell smiled and nodded.  
"I'm just thinking, that's all," she said miserably.  
"About what?" he asked sitting, down on the warm sand. Aeronniell also sat down.  
"About how much my life has changed and stuff," she admitted. "Jealousy Tails, It is a dangerous thing," she sighed.

"Yeah, I know," Tails sighed.  
"Huh?"  
"I used to get bullied a lot, because of my two tails and because I was into building machines. The kids that bullied me made me think that Wasn't normal, that I shouldn't be around. Then one day I met Sonic, and I've never been bullied since and I feel proud of myself for once," Tails admitted.

"Well, that's good.. You know Tails, Bullies are just jealous," Aeronniell smiled.  
"Yeah, Sonic said the same thing," Tails said.  
"Well, that's because it's right. And there's something that's been bugging me for a while: If everyone is different, how can you be normal?"

"Tails? Aero? You out here?" Sonic called as he poked his head around the cave entrance.  
"We're here Sonic!" Tails yelled back.  
"Come on Tails, let's go and get something to eat," Aeronniell said, standing up any helping Tails get to his feet.  
"Thank you Aero, for everything," Tails smiled as they walked back to the cave.

After everyone had breakfasted and cleaned up. They set off towards Flame Core. Aeronniell dreaded what she would have to do.  
"So.. What does this gem look like?" Shadow asked.  
"I guess It's like a Chaos Emerald, but black and it can turn different colours too," Aeronniell replied.  
"I've never heard of anything like this. I mean, I know you can get blue Fire Opals but black Fire Opals with energy locked inside of them, not so much," Knuckles said. "And I'm a treasure hunter," he smirked.

"The legends are from thousands of years ago, When light fought dark," Aeronniell explained.  
"Chip.." Sonic breathed.  
Everyone turned, "What did you say? You're not hungry already are you?" Knuckles asked.  
"No, Tails you remember Chip don't you? "Sonic exclaimed. Tails nodded.  
"Yeah I remember him, he had the mega sweet tooth didn't he?" Tails smiled.  
"That's him!" Sonic laughed.

Sonic and Tails told everyone else the story of how Sonic was turned into a werehog and met Chip, before going into the center of the planet to fight Dark Gaia. The story lasted until they got to Flame Core.

Aeronniell left Thunder outside as they entered the cave. Aeronniell instantly spotted an Elemental hiding behind a boulder, It was Stephenson, an Earth Elemental. He stayed silent and summoned the roof to fall onto the entrance. Aeronniell and the others tried to turn and run out but the door was already blocked.

"Dang!," Sonic exclaimed  
"Let's just find that Opal and get out of here," Shadow groaned.

As the group walked Tails couldn't help but stare at the doors, it's timing had been too typical, something wasn't right. Eventually Tails decided that it was just coincidence.

Flame Core had changed a lot since Tails had last been there. Most of the room was was solid rock. But a sinister red light came from the river of lava that flowed around the edge of the room, leaving a rocky shore on the other side of the lava.

On the rocky shore, furthest away from the entrance, the black fire opal gleamed in the hot light of the molten rock. Aeronniell and the others began to walk over toward the gem.

"How are we going to get it?" Tails asked. Aeronniell stepped forwards and used her water powers to scoop up the gem and bring it over to her.  
"That's was easy," Sonic remarked.  
Aeronniell let a tear run down her cheek. It was time. "Guys.. I'm.. I'm so sorry but there's no other way," she choked.  
Everyone turned to look at her. "For what?" Knuckles asked, lightly.

"For this," she exclaimed, As she suddenly sent a huge wave of water towards Sonic.

Sonic tried to dive out of the way, but Aeronniell was too quick. Within a quick second, Sonic was trapped in a huge sphere that was full of water. Sonic was pounding on the wall, he didn't have any air and so was fighting ferociously.

"Sonic, stop fighting and I'll give you some air," Aeronniell demanded.

"Aeronniell, just give him some air already! He can't swim!" Shadow yelled, whilst he and Knuckles dodged huge laser beams.

Tails ran forward to try to help Sonic but Aeronniell took some of the water from the sphere, containing Sonic, and sent it straight towards him. The water wrapped around Tails's hands and ankles and made Tails fall over. Now that there was air in the sphere. Sonic had to try to keep his head above the water but the water was literally clinging to his arms and legs and Sonic was tiring quickly.

Two huge lasers were trying to hit Shadow and Knuckles. Aeronniell was suddenly thrown a gun and she fired it at Knuckles and hit him right in the chest . He gasped and fell to the floor the laser was like a snake. It weaved around Knuckles's limbs and secured him onto the floor.

Shadow had tried to fight Aeronniell. He used his Chaos Control and appeared behind her, he tried to punch her in the head, but Aeronniell caught his fist and began to squeeze. Shadow winced and dropped onto one knee as Aeronniell slowly dragged him further and further down towards the floor. Aeronniell suddenly twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him to drop the Chaos Emerald. She drew one of her knives and calmly held it at his throat. Shadow was pushed forwards and was face-to-face with the lava. He couldn't move.

"Alright Eggman, I've got them," she sighed using a lot of her strength to keep Shadow still.  
"Why?" Shadow snarled as he struggled to break free.  
"I had no choice Shadow, they threatened Karn and I couldn't just let him be killed," she replied.

A cold laugh echoed around the cave as Eggman emerged from the darkness, "Excellent," he laughed.


	14. Chapter 14 - Rebellion

**Chapter 14 - Rebellion.**

Eggman materialized from the shadows on his infamous Egg-Carrier. Something had been chained to the bottom of it.  
"The Roboticiser!" Sonic exclaimed gravely.  
"Ho, ho ,ho.. I bet you missed my beautiful creation," Eggman laughed.  
"Aeronniell... Why?" Sonic asked, clenching his fists.

"Where's Karn?" Aeronniell demanded ignoring Sonic's question. Aeronniell took some more water out of the sphere so he could just manage to stand.  
"Aeronniell, answer me!" Sonic demanded. Aeronniell said nothing.  
"Aeronniell, please.. Let us go," Tails begged as his eyes grew wide and his bottom lip began to tremble. Aeronniell wanted to scream in frustration and punch a wall.  
"I'm sorry Tails but I can't," she choked. "Now, Eggman.. Release Karn, or I'll release Sonic and Tails," she said strongly.

Eggman sighed and pressed a few buttons on his Egg-Carrier. The bottom of the Egg-Carrier suddenly opened up and Karn dropped onto the stone floor. "Karn!" Aeronniell exclaimed.

"Stay where you are!" Eggman demanded, and he drew a laser gun. He fired it at Shadow who grunted in pain. The laser wrapped around him and kept him restrained on the floor. Aeronniell then ran over to Karn, as she did she deliberately knocked the Chaos Emerald and it rolled very close to Shadow's hand. Aeronniell checked Karn's pulse. He was alive, but seriously wounded.

Aeronniell helped Karn to his feet and began to help him walk. But she turned, "I had no choice.. He was going to kill Karn," she said quietly.  
"You should have told us," Sonic scowled. "We would have helped,"  
"I couldn't tell you, Eggman has a microphone imbedded in my hand," Aeronniell argued. "Come on Karn, we're going home," she muttered.

"Oh no you don't.. You serve ME now!" Eggman laughed.

Suddenly sparks of electricity began to fly off Aeronniell's arm, the electricity spread until it was around her entire body. Aeronniell screamed and dropped Karn. Aeronniell hit the floor and curled into a ball, was her body was violently shaking and jerking.

"Aeronniell!" everyone except Eggman exclaimed at the same time.  
It must have been at least ten, agonizing seconds until the electricity finally stopped. Aeronniell's powers stopped working. Sonic and Tails were free. Tails rushed over to her side. "Aeronniell," Tails breathed. Aeronniell tried to get up, but could only get onto her hands and knees.  
"I.. I guess it serves me right," Aeronniell smirked.

"Sir, the force field hasn't dropped, the Elemental still has the emeralds protected," a robotic voice reported.  
"How is she doing this?!"Eggman yelled. "How hard can it be to get those blasted Emeralds!?" Knuckles stared at Aeronniell, was she still protecting the Emeralds for him?

Sonic had ran over to Shadow and shoved him out the way of the lava and tried to figure out how to get him free. When Eggman suddenly shot at Sonic. "Alright Eggman, what was the plan this time?" Sonic called as he dodged the lasers with ease.  
"Well I'm so glad you asked. As you can tell, with Elementals on my side I am unstoppable! The Roboticiser requires all the Chaos Emeralds, which I find are very hard to obtain," he explained.  
"You're welcome," Sonic called sarcastically.

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN HEDGEHOG!" Eggman yelled. "Anyway, as I was saying. I soon found this unusual white Fire opal. The power in this alone can power my machine, with plenty of energy left to spare! I intend to destroy everything and rebuild my Incredible Interstellar Amusement park (that you rudely destroyed last year),".

"What abouwt the Forwest?" Stephenson asked, innocently. " You said dat we could wrule the Forwest!," he yelled.  
"Oh shut up you fool, I'm going to destroy that too," Eggman snapped.  
Whispers began to weave through the Elementals. The Elemental that was holding the laser gun at Knuckles, switched it off. Knuckles jumped to his feet, and ran over to Tails and Aeronniell.

The Elementals dropped their weapons and most of them walked out. Some however, stayed and prepared for battle.  
"ENOUGH!" Eggman bellowed as he used the laser gun to throw Shadow of the cave wall with incredible force. Sonic jumped over the lava and crouched by Shadow, desperately trying to protect him.  
"Shadow.." Aeronniell said weakly as she tried to get up to help him but fell to the floor.

"All of you pick up your weapons, now!" Eggman demanded. None of the Elementals did as instructed, so Eggman hit Shadow of the wall and electrocuted Aeronniell, yet again.

Aeronniell managed to get to her feet and carefully drew her bow. She aimed for Eggman's hand and fired. The arrow grazed Eggman's hand and forced him to drop the laser gun in his hand. The gun fell into the lava. The laser beams instantly disappeared, leaving Shadow free but he was still winded and it took him a while to get up.

"Fwore the Forwest!" Stephenson yelled, and so all of the Elementals began to fight Eggman's robots. Everyone joined the fight but Tails stayed with Aeronniell and Karn. Eggman pressed a button and two aerodynamic arms flew out and desperately tried to grab Shadow, but Sonic stood in front of him and attacked the arms, forcing Eggman to keep back.  
"THAT'S IT, ROBOTICISER GO INTO SELF-DESTRUCT MODE , AND DESTROY THESE LITTLE PESTS!" Eggman thundered as he teleported off.

The Roboticiser suddenly shuddered into life and a little digital timer appeared on the screen. _Two minutes _Aeronniell thought. _If we get out of here it will be a miracle.  
_"Tails, Do you think that you can stop the bomb?" Shadow called.  
"I don't know Shadow, I.. I don't think I can do it," Tails said, looking quite stressful.  
"Tails," Sonic called, as he zoomed over. "You can do this, we all know you can! Just try Tails, please," he encouraged.

Tails took a deep breath and sighed. Aeronniell passed him one of her knives so that he could remove the metal panel. Once Tails removed the metal panel and studied the metal wires he panicked. Sonic and Aeronniell were beside him and stopped any robots from getting to Tails.  
"Sonic, I can't do this!" Tails yelled.  
"You have to Try Tails, your our only hope," he said whilst fighting a robot.

Aeronniell looked at Tails, "Tails you can do this. Prove those bullies wrong, just concentrate," she smiled encouragingly. Tails gulped and picked up Aeronniell's knife. After staring at the wires for a while, the countdown had now reached ten. Tails closed his eyes and cut the wire. The countdown stopped at 3 seconds.  
"I DID IT!" He exclaimed, leaping in the air. Everyone cheered, including the Elementals.  
"We all knew you could," Knuckles smiled, before turning to look for Aeronniell.

Aeronniell was sat beside Karn, her hands were trembling as she checked his pulse. Knuckles watched as she burst into tears and cried on Karn's chest. "Karn, get up!" she wept.  
Knuckles walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Aeronniell just turned and hugged him as she cried. Knuckles quietly comforted her.

An Elemental suddenly walked up to Aeronniell. It was Stephenson. He crouched next to Karn as his hand began to glow green. He placed his hand onto Karn's chest for a moment..  
Suddenly, Karn sat bolt upright. "Karn, you're alive!" Aeronniell exclaimed wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you Stephenson," she smiled as she lightly kissed him on the cheek, crying precious tears of joy. Stephenson began to blush.

"Come on let's get out of here," Aeronniell smiled, as she helped Karn to his feet. Stephenson moved all the rocks away from the entrance, with a click of his fingers. Everyone quickly made their way towards the exit...


	15. Chapter 15 - After the storm

**Chapter 15 - After the storm**

"You mean we can come home?" Karn said, clearly shocked. The Elementals nodded in unison, which Sonic found a little unsettling. Karn accepted this offer and began to talk and laugh with the others.

"Well.. Uh, I guess.. I guess I better go," Aeronniell managed, Sonic could sense how awkward she felt.  
"Aeronniell, don't worry about what happened back there. You didn't have a choice and well, I'm sorry, for getting mad at you and stuff," he said.  
"I can't blame you for being mad. Besides it me who should be sorry, from now on there'll be no lies," she promised. Sonic nodded and shook Aeronniell's hand.

"Ouch," Aeronniell yelped. Sonic let go quickly. Aeronniell took her glove off and looked at the bug, sitting on her hand. Aeronniell yanked it off, threw it on the floor and stomped onto it.  
"I'll.. Get.. You for this," a high-pitched voice yelled. It was Eggman. Aeronniell and the others laughed.

"Well, it looks like everything is okay, Eggman should stop for a little while and the Elementals have united," Aeronniell smiled. "I'll have to show you around the forest sometime," she smirked.

As the sun went down there was a massive celebration on the beach. People laughed and sang and danced all night. At one point a young Elemental girl dragged Shadow to his feet and got him to dance with her. Of course, everyone just laughed. Aeronniell thought Sonic was going to pass out he laughed so hard.

When Shadow managed to escape, he sat down beside Aeronniell (who spotted a little lipstick on his cheek) Shadow looked at Sonic who was still chuckling. Shadow smirked and shoved Sonic at the same girl who shrieked with delight and continued to dance, and so the laughing continued all night..

The next morning, it was time to leave. "I guess I'll see you later then," Sonic smiled shaking her hand.  
Aeronniell leaned forwards " Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

Aeronniell accepted a handshake from Shadow and a high-five from Tails. Then it came to Knuckles. He held out his hand, expecting a handshake, but instead Aeronniell gave him a huge hug that nearly knocked him off his feet.  
"I owe you my life, thank you," she smiled kissing him on the cheek.  
"Your welcome, ugh, Aeronniell.. Can't breathe," he managed. Aeronniell let go and just laughed.

Aeronniell mounted Thunder and sat behind Karn. Sonic and his friends watched as Aeronniell left. "You think she'll be back?" Shadow asked.

"Absolutely, and I can't wait," Sonic smirked as he waved goodbye...

**My first ever fanfiction is done, thank you for the reviews, favourites and follows. There's a sequel coming up soon called : _Lost in Greed_**


End file.
